From jeradonah@hushmail.com Sun Oct 31 10:50:51 1999 Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 16:28:44 -0500 (PDT) From: jeradonah@hushmail.com To: dc-stuff@dis.org Subject: Re: Krystalia On Fri, 29 October 1999, sang@sinister.com wrote: > > Krystalia, age 28 passed away today 29 October 1999 at approximately > 12:30pm. > > Krystalia was beloved by many, and will be missed. word of krys' coma and then death left me, like it, no doubt, did others, in shock. i am an idealist, and i hoped against hope that she would beat this thing up until the last moment. so perhaps i was less prepared for the shock... krys was one of the first people to welcome me to the list. we corresponded on and off list from the moment that i subscribed, so it came as a surprise to me when i learned that she was female. then, of course, i had to backtrack, as i explained that her technical competency and list behavior could have come from either gender. or i am an idiot... when i began posting on quantum computing, krys began a campaign, as it were, to get me on irc. i never really understood why, as we never really talked that much, and she was as much a mystery to me as i was to her. but when i finally consented, she took me under her wing, so to speak, and even lambasted sang one night ("leave him alone, this is my physics professor"). i was more honored by her *defense* than by any award or citation i ever received, because i knew that it came from her heart... we eventually did have that conversation about quantum computers on irc. and one on feynman. and one on life itself. krys was remarkably intelligent and, like many hackers, interested in a wide variety of subjects. but one of the subjects that most interested me was the power of the medium, for i was initially overwhelmed by my experience on irc. i might add, in my defense, that no one should ever begin their irc experience on #dc-stuff, but that is another subject... my heart sank when krys told me of her unexplained illness in december. we were supposed to have lunch when i vacationed in the keys, but by that time (early january), she was already drained of strength. it is too bad, because she would have liked our lunch companion. like you, i was saddened when she left the list, and even sadder when sang relayed that they had stopped treating her. but still, i knew that krys was a strong person, and i honestly believed that she would pull through. perhaps wished might be a better word... i am not gonna claim to have been krys' closest friend, or that i "knew her well," but i am a better person for having known her -- and i would bet that you are, too. people like krys do touch our lives, do alter our paths, do make this place bearable. it is easy to forget that as we resume our busy schedules, but i for one will try not to forget her. i hope no one does, she is worthy of the memory... krystalia they said you died yesterday and i was lost of things to say it does not make much sense to me but at least i got the chance to grieve you may not have lived life at the edge but life itself is sufficient test i think of what you did for me helped me to see some things clearly you can't sum up life in a song so much forgotten would just be wrong but when i heard you died i cried i could not escape the question, "why?" krys, you live on in our memories your life's promise merged into our dreams but when we heard you died we cried no one could answer the question, "why?" Get HushMail. The world's first free, fully encrypted, web-based email system. Speak freely with HushMail.... http://www.hushmail.com